To make my long runs a little more palpable and fun, I researched and found several races that overlapped. I looked for races in NC, but we don’t have a lot of long ones in the summer because it is so hot. My brother lives in Ohio, so I looked there, and low-and-behold, I found a half marathon that fell on my 16-mile day!
The Emerald City Half and Quarter Marathon and 5K are hosted in Dublin, Ohio. From what I hear, this usually falls during the Irish festival, but that wasn’t held this year because of Covid. I wasn’t really sure what to expect other than that it should be a flat race.
Event communication was fair. They sent a few emails that had a ton of information. It was a lot to process but eventually, I took it all in. I wasn’t familiar with the city so I didn’t understand the reference points.
The course was great. It was flat and very scenic. There were a lot of water stops which were desperately needed with the heat.
Miles 1-3
The race started out well. We ran through a cute downtown before going on some rural streets and neighborhoods. I ran with my brother (who was doing the 5K) before he split off after the first mile. Then I was on my own. I was staying at a steady pace and taking in my surroundings.
Miles 3-7
I didn’t realize it, but we would spend the majority of the course on a trail. I really enjoyed this and thought it made for a pretty run. I was feeling okay at this point, but just trying to stay steady on my 3/1 run/walk pace.
Miles 7-10
I really started slowing down. My walk breaks got longer here, but I kept trying to get into a run.
Miles 10-13.1
WALL! The only way to describe the rest of my race. I hit a hard wall and couldn’t recover. It got really hot and humid. I was getting water to drink and pour in my head at every stop. I would try to run for short periods but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I always try to run over the finish line and while I feel like I tried, I’m sure it wasn’t a real run. My official time was 2:40:09, which averaged out to a 12:14/mile pace.
When I finished, I collapsed. I got my medal and a bottle of water. The volunteers handed out an ice-cold towel, which was AMAZING! I looking for a spot to sit and sat on the ground. I needed time to recover and process what happened. I felt miserable. I worked to get my water down and enjoyed the relief from my towel. After a bit, I made my way to find a banana and my brother.
Conclusion
Even though I crashed hard, I am proud of myself. I ran this after running 3 miles earlier in the morning. If you take my first 13 of the day, I did really well. The heat/humidity has been affecting me a lot and very badly; this race was no exception. The race organizers did a great job making sure there were plenty of water stops and the cold towel at the end was such a treat! I probably would have gone faster if I knew that was waiting! 😀
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